Gomez campaign photo via Facebook.

Rogelio “Roy” Gomez’s campaign for county supervisor submitted overdue financial disclosure forms to the county elections office on Monday, the same day that the Outpost asked for details about the campaign’s fundraising efforts to date.

Gomez is challenging incumbent Mike Wilson for the Third District seat on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors.

As we reported Monday, the Gomez campaign previously filed a Form 470, which is for candidates who don’t intend to raise and/or spend $2,000 or more. This despite the fact that his campaign announced in December that it was in “full campaign fundraising mode,” was soliciting donations via PayPal and had professionally designed yard signs. 

Asked for confirmation that the campaign had not raised or spent more than $2,000, campaign manager Jessica Gomez (Roy’s wife) replied via Facebook Messenger, saying they would not answer any questions about “campaign fundraising, advertisements, or any other information regarding our campaign” unless the Outpost first reported on Eureka City Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez’s interest in anarchism.

The Gomezes have made impassioned public comments on this issue at Eureka council meetings and elsewhere, theorizing that a majority of the five-person council may have infiltrated city government in order to dismantle it from within:

At some point on Monday (employees at the Elections Office couldn’t say exactly when), the Gomez campaign turned in a 470 amendment form disclosing that it had, in fact, exceeded the $2,000 fundraising threshold, with an explanatory note saying, “some funds still on hold by paypal.”

The campaign also submitted a Form 410, disclosing the formation of a recipient committee, “Elect Roy Gomez,” which is required of campaigns that exceed the $2,000 mark. The data entered on that form says that the Gomez campaign reached the qualification threshold five days earlier, on Feb. 21.

According to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s campaign manual for local candidates, “A committee that qualifies during the last 16 days before the election must file Form 410 within 24 hours of qualifying.”

We reached out to the Gomez campaign via Facebook Messenger to ask about the discrepancy, and though our message was “seen” by the page manager a little before 10 a.m., no one from the campaign responded before the time this post was published. We will update if we get a response.

Jay Wierenga, communications director for the FPPC, told the Outpost that while any violation of California’s Political Reform Act can carry a penalty of up to $5,000, the commission considers such things on a case-by-case basis, with leeway given for mitigating factors such as lack of experience from first-time candidates. 

Election Day is next Tuesday, March 5.